Thursday, February 6, 2014

CCA threatens to suspend OCA

The Canadian Curling Association is turning up the heat on the
Ontario Curling Association.

In the on-going battle between the national body and other
member associations, and the OCA, the former group is threatening to suspend the
latter, which could have dire consequences for curlers in Ontario.

As readers of this blog will know, the CCA voted in November
to make the OCA a member not in good standing. That meant it lost a host of
privileges and resources offered from Ottawa. Included in there was funding for
various programs such as the Curling Assistance Program or the Curling Club
Fund.

In an email sent to the OCA this week, the CCA added more
sanctions that include no OCA hosting opportunities for national events and OCA
coaches not being able to be certified under the National Coaching
Certification Program.

However, the real threat is in what could be looming. If the
OCA fails to meet the demands of the CCA on a variety of issues by Feb. 10, then on March 10, the there will be a special meeting of the membership. At that
meeting there will be a vote to suspend the OCA from the CCA.

That could mean no teams from Ontario at any national
championship. That won’t affect Team Balsdon heading to the Brier, but it would
mean no Ontario team at the Mixed Doubles, Seniors, Masters and potentially
both the College and University championships.

Yup, matters are that serious.

If you're an Ontario curler, you should be upset. In fact, you should be livid. You need answers as to why all this is happening.

Stay tuned – there is more to come on this issue. I should have some details to reveal as to what's behind all this in the coming days.